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“Entreat me not to leave you,

Or to turn back from following after you;

For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;

Your people shall be my people,

And your God, my God.

17 Where you die, I will die,

And there will I be buried.

The LORD do so to me, and more also,

If anything but death parts you and me.”

Ruth. Ru 1:16–17. Hi, it’s Nathan, and this is Day 6 of 30 Days to a Better Marriage.

Ruth’s promise to Naomi of standing by her to the very end is a deeply moving insight into covenant love. Incidentally, it’s got a lot of similarity to a marriage vow.

BTW, I’m definitely not encouraging you to stay in an abusive relationship. If you’re suffering in your marriage, get help. Get it today.

Let’s think about this whole marriage vow thing some more.

I told my wife one time, while thinking of wedding vows: they have no idea what they’re getting into. No idea. And that’s the truth. Love-struck and starry-eyed we pledge our love and faithfulness “til death doth us part” to a person we deeply love, but barely know—and it doesn’t matter how long we’ve been dating. We make a high-stakes promise staring bravely into the void of a completely unknown future. We have no guarantee that our spouse will stay healthy, or kind, or faithful, or good. Absolutely none. When I stop and think about it, it’s a head-spinning proposition—yet a profoundly beautiful one, echoing the sentiments of the very heart of God. Covenant faithfulness. Faithfulness to the very end. The marriage promise is a commitment to be uniquely faithful to one human being alone, whatever the personal cost.